


The Adventure of the Blue Box

by Penwielding_Beyonder



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 17:35:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1355986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penwielding_Beyonder/pseuds/Penwielding_Beyonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is 1881 and Vastra meets both a young woman who will change her life and an old man she owes so much to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mysterious Madman

**Author's Note:**

> Be warned that my version of Vastra is somewhat different from what I have seen in most Vastra/Jenny fanfic. One reason is this fic paints a much darker version of Silurians, one that takes into account things like their dedication to the purity of their race, their frequent willingness to exterminate humans, their practice of eugenics and their eagerness to kill mixed-race offspring. I have seen many versions of Silurians that portray their society as a sort of lesbian-friendly utopia. This one does not. My second reason is that Vastra is supposed to be an inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. And Sherlock Holmes was a 19th century Renaissance man, his chambers were always full of chemicals, he had a vast knowledge of toxicology, his Sherlock Holmes' blood test was a piece of fiction that helped pave way for modern forensic science... In my eyes, this makes Vastra a character who should think a lot, who should analyse nearly everything, who should show some intelligence and scientific knowledge. And who should be a little bit weird at times.

Foreword

The world is not safe but it is safer again today and adding another find into our vault made me feel a little introspective. And a single and innocent remark led to a surprising debate with Jenny. Her opinions warmed my heart, even though my pride got a little hurt in the process. So here you have it – some of the adventures that Jenny considers our most important cases so far. I will start at the beginning and, truth be told, this one we can definitely agree on.

 

Chapter 1: Mysterious Madman

I still remember the day I've met Jenny. And it was a day that gave me one more reason to remember it. You see, it was also the third time I've met the strange, mutant human who became my first case. So it was the day, or maybe I should say the night, that remade me into a detective. The evening was still young but night falls soon in early February and the city was safe for me to roam, the darkness and fog and my veil hiding me from prying eyes. I was out to familiarize myself with a wider area east of my lodgings and I was walking through a dark and seemingly empty alleyway north of Whitechapel Road when I saw a silhouette emerge from behind a corner and I recognized it.

I would never forget it and I all but froze but the man has had his back to me so I had time to regain my wits. This was the man who most likely saved my life after I woke up into a hellish world. The man who helped me regain my senses when I woke up to find out some mammals have killed my kin, the man who stopped my murderous rampage, the man who helped me realize that dying while avenging my sisters was not the proper thing to do. The mutant, telepathic human who was able to talk to me when I could not say a word in English. The man I ran away from in my shame on the day I woke up amongst humans. The mysterious, enigmatic, unbelievable, charming madman. There were days I hoped to meet him again so I could thank him for saving me. And there were days I hoped to meet him so I could beat him into a bloody pulp.

Yes, he most likely saved my life. And yes, running away from him was entirely my fault. But when you are seemingly the last of your whole species? When you are sentenced to a life of hiding while the world once yours is ruled by descendants of your meat animals? When the only being who seemed to understand you looks like another such mammal? When your home is an abandoned cellar you have to enter from a sewer? When you are a strange monster who doesn't even speak local language? When the humans' faces seem so alike you usually have to recognize them by their voices or other clues? When alcohol becomes your beloved friend? I know it sounds stupid in retrospect but yes, there were times I wanted to see him bleeding from a broken nose and to yell at him and to spit into his face.

We've met again when I was with Henry's Monstre Gathering. But I was still a depressed, angry drunkard and he didn't approve of me working there or of my habits. His words sounded too idealistic to my bitter, slightly drunk self and I was still too angry – and too ashamed, if I'm to be honest – so I've yelled at him and told him to go to hell. And he left, though I don't think he has travelled as far as Hell itself. It took me a long time to understand the truth and wisdom in his words.

But meeting him for the third time? I was a teetotaller. I have to admit it was the sixth time I was trying to become one but it was also three weeks since I've touched any alcohol, far longer than my previous attempts. It wasn't easy, I was still staying at the Gin Palace, but I was starting a new life. I was finally willing to listen to him and think about his words. And I had a chance to spy on him, a chance to find out who this strange human was. So I became a silent shadow following in his footsteps.

He has led me to a small, seemingly abandoned workshop and went inside. The place was so small and cheap-looking and predictable that I knew it had no back door and I have decided to hide and wait. But that wait turned out to be shorter than I expected it to and not because of the man I tracked. I soon noticed a fight breaking out nearby. Such an event would have made me a barrel of conflicting emotions even if he was not there – my life amongst humans was making keeping my detachment increasingly difficult – but the mysterious man's presence made matters even worse. _Who_ was he? _What_ was going on? Should I watch the workshop? Should I concern myself with the fight? But then I heard desperate screams and something inside me snapped. I have been telling myself I should be treating humans as people for months. At least some of them surely deserved that, right? They were intelligent beings, at least going by conventional wisdom. It was time to stop seeing myself as an outsider and an alien. A silent prayer to Goddess and I was running towards the noises and into the alley they were coming from.

I saw a group of five similarly-dressed humans attacking a sixth one. A young woman. And I was sure she was a female because she was half-naked and one of the other five was about to mate with her. Rape her. Next moment I was unsheathing my sword before I realized what I was doing. The one male who was their lookout saw my blade and saw me charging them and pulled out a knife and shouted a warning and suddenly there was no chance of pulling back. It was kill or be killed. My tongue found his eyes and his companions died seconds later by my blade.

I took a moment to check my surroundings but I saw no more threats so I turned my attention to the human girl I've just saved. Ten to fifteen years old, judging by her size and taking into account my inexperience with humans. Probably some minor wounds, no life-threatening injuries, a cut or two might require stitches but the rest should heal on its own. Terrified, shocked, exhausted. Cheap but clean clothes, no rags but probably not new either. I saved a young human woman! And killed five other humans in the process. What in Goddess’s name possessed me to do that? I watched her for the three seconds it took me to clean and sheath my sword and then I somehow managed to open my mouth and speak.

“What's your name, girl?”

She wasn't even looking at me but at least she answered.

“Jen... Jenny Flint, Madam.”

“Hello, Jenny, I'm Vastra. Could you let me take a look at your wounds, Jenny?”

Well, I knew what to do. In theory. Stop the bleeding, clean the wounds, stitch what has to be stitched... But I've never had to deal with a wounded human.

“Thank you, Madam, but I'm okay, it's just scratches. See, it's only... Gosh, why is it bleeding so much? It hardly hurts but...”

I interrupted her.

“That's your body hiding the pain while you fight, Jenny. So, do we do something about you bleeding?”

She merely nodded and I began with the task and the girl was sensible enough to cooperate, probably because I got to her before anything too bad has happened to her. I saw two deep cuts and a few more minor wounds so I handed her a bandage – a headscarf, in fact - to press it against the smaller cut and was treating the worse-looking one when her brain finally noticed my hands.

“You should take those gloves off, Madam. You're gentle enough but you'll never wash the blood off.”

Something was telling me I could be honest with her and I made the decision in a split of a second. Another part of me told me, out of habit I guess, that I could always kill her later.

“I'm not wearing any gloves, Jenny. That is my own skin.”

I felt her gaze trying to pierce my veil and it was hindering my efforts anyway so I took my hat off. Her next question nearly floored me.

“Are you one of them Dinosours, Madam? They're the only lizards I've ever heard about to walk on two feet. I'm glad you didn't really die out, Madam.”

I turned my attention from her wound to her face and studied her for a moment. I replayed her voice in my head and analysed it. I took another good look at her clothes and her hands too, trying to find more clues. Uneducated, yes, and mistaken and young and tired and shaken to her core. A factory worker, probably a matchgirl. But she was intelligent and friendly. I admit I was her saviour, that probably coloured her view of me, but she was one of the precious few humans who could look into the face of a Silurian and stay friendly instead of becoming scared, repulsed or hostile. The happiness arising from finding another friendly soul was short-lived, though, because I saw her eyes dart to behind me and her whole being screamed fear at me. I was turning and rising and reaching for my sword and I saw the lookout I thought taken out aiming a firearm at me. I must have missed his left eye. He was too far for me to use my tongue and I had to get up and get closer and then Jenny's hands and then her body hit me from behind and we went tumbling and I heard a deafening boom.

I regained my footing but Jenny did not and I heard her body hit the ground. My attention, however, was back on the lookout. His right eye was gone and there was blood around his left one, he was obviously resistant to my poison but not immune to it, his rage has shifted from me to Jenny. I could have let him shoot her and I would have been safe, because his weapon was a primitive double-barrelled one, but to my mind Jenny was not just an animal. I would have let him shoot her if this happened a few months earlier. But not on this day. I would fight him and risk my life the same way I would do if she was a Silurian. Only he made my willingness to make a sacrifice meaningless because he fired a second shot before I made half a step, probably even before his brain realized I was moving again. And he had no third shot and this time I made really sure he would stay dead.

I turned my attention back to Jenny and I breathed out in relief when I saw that both shots missed her. My mind analysed the fight - the lookout seemed right-eye dominant and he lost that eye to my first strike, my poison must have been influencing his nervous system, it was a high-stress situation, the trigger probably had a heavy pull... And we got lucky.

However, I was not ready to try my luck with the police and those two shots meant they would be on their way. And one look at Jenny let me know she thought the same way. The killings were justified, of course, but I was not ready to explain myself to the police and it was quite obvious Jenny felt the same way. We hastily finished two extremely temporary bandages and then I looked into her eyes.

“Can you run, Jenny?!?”

I had to talk loud, my ears were still ringing and so had to be Jenny's because primitive large-caliber firearms in narrow alleys and no hearing protection make for a deafening combination. Either she heard me fine or could put two and two together. In either case she was up and jogging before I could pick up my hat, adrenaline powering her battered body on its way to safety. But she was not running back through the alley I came in through.

So moving my gaze from my hat towards Jenny and seeing a man with a drawn knife just behind the corner ahead of her felt the same way being hit by a bucketful of liquid nitrogen would. He had murder in his eyes and his clothes let me know he belonged to the same group as those still visible five dead. Our luck seemed to have run out and the dead lookout's gun would give him his revenge not by killing us but by having deafened us so we would not notice his last friend in time. Jenny's speed would take her into his range before either of us could do anything to save her, she was already past the corner when my arm flew back, pointlessly getting ready to throw my sword.

And then it was as if _something_ ripped the knife from the man's hand and threw it against a wall.

It was impossible for his expression to become even more enraged but I heard his rage in his roar and his fist hit Jenny's side and sent her to the ground again. He might have went after her but he saw me and realized he would have to fight for his life. He tried, he even managed to block my first attack but my second one cost him his left leg and my third one his neck. I was not happy about that because his movements prior to that meant my sword also hit the cobblestones but I wanted to take him out quickly. I managed to save Jenny once, I wasn't going to let my good deed go to waste. And I had no idea what disarmed him so there was the possibility something even more dangerous than him would appear.

What I saw a dozen yards away was my mysterious human. He was already hiding some unknown object, something hilt-sized, something that glowed for a moment before he put it away. Something definitely out of place in 1881.

“No, definitely not a Kraal android. False alarm, I guess. Oh, hello, Vastra, good to see you're coming to your senses this year. Do you think you could take care of the young lady? I'm in a bit of a hurry tonight. See you around, ladies.”

I saw him turn around and set out to walk away. Such a decision was inconsistent with his previous behaviour and it left me confused for a moment. The most likely explanation was he did it on purpose but I did not know what that purpose was. But I simply filed my observations for future analysis. The man was an enigma but chasing him would have endangered Jenny and I wasn't willing to do that again. She was friendly, she was brave enough to risk her life trying to save me, something about her reminded me of my much younger self. So I turned to her and once again I breathed out in relief when I saw her getting up. I saw neither signs of broken ribs nor other new serious injuries and I helped her stand up and let some of her weight rest on me. She knew the area better than I did and for a while our only conversation was about how best evade any police pursuit. Our next topic of importance was her injuries and while it let me gain more insight into her personality it gave me little other new information. So I took care of basic first aid and then I had to decide what to do next.

“Do you live somewhere nearby, Jenny? And do you know who attacked you and why?”

Her voice was a mixture of shock, anger, fear and sadness.

“Do you know the corner of Spelman and Chicksand, Madam? I'm staying with my aunt Martha near there, on account of me being an orphan. And I'm afraid I do know who those men were, Madam. Black Scorpions. My cousin Donald and a few other lads let one of them know where their turf is last Friday so I guess I was to send back a message, so to speak, Madam.”

Not a good place to leave her and adding to my worries was the fact that quite a lot of the filth one can find on the streets here ended up in her wounds a little while ago. The only antibiotics I knew to exist in the whole of London were products of my own experiments. Primitive stuff, I know, but I had to begin with the easier tasks. On the other hand, yes, I might have been trying to begin a new life, but Jenny was still a human, a friendly but largely unknown one. Would I dare to invite her into my lair? And would she accept? Only one way to tell.

“Well, Jenny, I think I do know that place. And, unless I am surprisingly mistaken, medical care around there can hardly rival that in my place in Cheapside, which I'm offering for free. Let's just say I'm beginning to repay some of the old debt I owe to the man who saved you from that last lookout, if you are wondering why would I do such a thing. And you're probably the first young lady I've met around here who knows what a dinosaur is and is not afraid of me or repulsed by me. Oh, and we can take a cab and you can ask all the question I'm sure are rushing towards your lips. Is such an offer acceptable?”

Her eyes studied me for a good long while, making a part of me angry, thinking she's an ungrateful ape. But I understood her fears and in the end she accepted. I guess she thought she would get to know me better in the cab and she could always jump off it.


	2. Two refreshments in your world

It was like being back at the university, teaching again. Only I was not teaching undergrads, I was talking to a much younger human girl. Technically a woman, I suppose, what with her age and her being a factory worker and her having had to grow up fast - but her personality and her intelligence were still maturing. And Jenny Flint amazed me. She was in pain, shocked, dirty, tired. She was talking to a lizard she saw kill six humans. But it took her about five minutes to turn into a smart, inquisitive, eager student. Finding her was like finding a rough diamond. I was probably the first adult she could freely ask anything and who was adequately intelligent, educated and willing to answer. And this fact reminded me again how horrible the situation of average humans was. This was a girl who could, in ten or twenty years, become a great scientist but she had to accept jobs that would give her neither the time nor the means to reach her full potential. She would likely be a mother before those ten years were over, which would burden her with even more duties. She would have to work hard just to stay alive and raise her children.

But she had the potential and there was a bright spark in her that drove her forward, never letting the horrors and wearisomeness of the world she had to live in destroy her soul. Her first questions were about me but she soon switched to biology, chemistry, fencing, astronomy, electricity... She was like a kid in a candy store who is free to taste anything she might wish to. She brought back memories of students who were honestly eager to learn, students who shared my love of knowledge and joy of discovery. Yes, a part of it was no doubt a subconscious effort to occupy herself with something that would help her forget the attack she has been through. But that effort helped me see her true self. She entered the cab because she saw I wanted to help and she recognized how rewarding my act of kindness was to me. She was doing me a favour, as strange as that might sound. But once she saw a kindred spirit in me, once she sensed that no matter how older and more educated I might be, I treated her like a fellow soul, she became my friend.

Her empathy and her intuition are enviable. I have long known my social skills were somewhat bellow par and I have always had to turn to my intelligence to compensate for that. But Jenny... She knew so little about me, she no doubt noticed me sidestepping some of her questions, she had to be aware of her social status and mine and yet... It took her less than half an hour to understand and to decide that she would like to become my friend. So she became the first human – other than my nearly-perpetually drunk landlady – I have let into my home in Cheapside. But there was one dark secret I had to deal with before I would dare to call her a friend. The penicillin and the stitches and better bandages and so on could wait a little bit longer. The jug on my table called out to me, offering help.

“Mind if I pour myself a drink, Jenny?”

She seemed confused for a moment.

“I'm sorry for asking, Madam, but I thought you don't drink alcohol anymore?”

The light from one lone lamp was somewhat dim but it would have to suffice.

“There are two refreshments in your world the colour of red wine. This is not red wine.”

Jenny paled for a second but then she cocked her head and smiled.

“Are you trying to spook me, Madam? Test my courage?”

She studied me a little longer and then she continued.

“I think you are trying to make me prove I'm smart. So can I have a drink too?”

I nodded and she poured herself half a glass and took a sip while ostensibly not bothering to check the aroma. And her face lit into a triumphant smile.

“Ha! I knew it would not be blood, Madam! But how do you get sour cherry juice this fresh in February?”

I took a sip too.

“Simple science and a certain degree of ingenuity, Jenny. I will be happy to explain it later. However, what if it had been blood?”

Her gaze was a lot more inquisitive now.

“You would not be asking this unless... Are you trying to warn me? You think you actually are a monster, Madam? I don't think you're one. The men you killed were real monsters. I saw you kill them and it shocked me but it doesn't make you a monster, Madam.”

She was so smart and so sensible and yet so mistaken. I put my glass down and set out to get a good fire going but I willed myself to answer.

“I am no monster, Jenny, at least not by my own standards. I told you I was born a long time ago, so long ago that your ancestors were still nothing more than clever animals. Sometimes they were meat animals to us. The taste of near-human flesh is something I have known since childhood.”

I was afraid she would be sick, then and there. I can only imagine what must have been going through her mind when her saviour turned out to be a human-eater. But I am like an open book to her and it was as if she could peek into my very soul. And she is made from far stronger stuff than she seems to be.

“I know about evolution and history, Madam. Was this something like eating apes?”

“More like you eating a coyote, if I was to use a metaphor. Humans are closely related to apes. But not to Silurians.”

It took her a while to process this and then she continued.

“Are you still eating people these days, Madam? I'm so sorry for asking this but you're scary now.”

This was the hardest part.

“I never hunt humans for food. You are an intelligent species now. But I have been forced to kill three men since I woke up into your world, not counting the ones I have killed today and not counting my first day here. And I was a poor, starving thing for a while and letting the first two bodies spoil would have likely cost me my life. And humans are comfort food to me. The taste brought back memories of my childhood. It helped me forget I am the only Silurian alive of Earth. I know how horrible this sounds but trust me, Jenny, I am no monster. I only kill to protect life, always have, always will. But I ate some of those I have killed.”

Her voice was shaking but firm.

“And do you have to eat those you kill, Madam?”

“No. But it helped me stay sane. Maybe a day will come when I will no longer need such help, Jenny, but I have needed it so far. And it might happen again. Do you think we can still become friends, now that you know?”

I saw her close her eyes and put her hands over her mouth. I saw her wipe a tear from the corner of her eye. I saw her pinch her nose. I have no idea how long it took her to speak again.

“Am I free to go now?”

My heart sank. A part of me screamed at me to kill her, to protect myself. But all I had to do was move, find a new place to live and I would be safe. She was not guilty of anything and it was my choice to be honest with her. I had no right to kill her.

“Yes, you are free to go, Jenny. I am sorry-”

And she interrupted me!

“In that case I think I would like to stay, Madam, if you want me to. I think we both need some help tonight, if you don't mind me saying so.”

***

It was long past midnight when we finally went to sleep that night. And we both knew we have found a new friend that day. She brought joy and hope back into my life. She made me believe a day might come when humans and Silurians could live together as friends and equals. It would not be anytime soon, I knew my people and I knew humans too. But she gave me hope, both for myself and for our races. She convinced me a day may come when it will be safe to look for and revive more Silurians. She worked long hours and she never wanted any money from me so our time together was limited, to the point where I would sometimes walk her back home so we could spend more time together. But she became my most eager student ever and I was surprised by how much I have learned from her about her life, about her friends, about London, about humanity. And she became one of my reasons to keep away from alcohol.

Days turned into weeks and I have found my schedule ruled by two things. Our evening lessons and my search for the human telepath. He knew more than anyone else in London and he had some access to technology beyond anything I have seen in human hands. Could it be he has managed to study some Silurian artefacts? I had to find out and my search turned into an obsession of sorts.

And my obsession nearly cost me my life. I should have known better. It was a rookie's mistake. But Jenny was back home again and I was so focused on finding my prey that I forgot there were other predators in the city. I was too rich and too female and too stupid and too lost in thought and I went where I shouldn't have and I wasn't paying the attention I should have. I should have, at the very least, realized the men I have walked past were Black Scorpions and that there might have been some witness to my first encounter with their friends. I would like to say all this went through my mind when I stood there that horrible March night and there was a knife in my chest but the truth is all I was thinking about was pain and my bare survival.

I am more than a scientist. I am a warrior too and I knew I was probably going to die. The group I was facing was too violent, too scared, too angry, too big and their first attack came as a surprise. I killed two of them but I was in a corner and all they had to do was wait. There was a knife in my chest, not to mention a few minor wounds, so I had two options left. Charge them and die, or wait till I'm so weakened they can close in and kill me. I was desperately looking for a way out and then an angelic voice gave me a third option.

“Over here, Constable! Come get them!”

It was Jenny's voice, full of emotional pain and barely recognizable but hers. It was followed by the sound of her running away but it threw the gang into disarray. And it confused me too. Why run away if there's some constable with her? She wouldn't just abandon me, would she? I have no idea how many seconds ticked by and then I've heard a police whistle. And soon several more and then came the sound of heavy boots running towards us and the gangmen took to flight.

They never saw what I saw next. Jenny at a dead run and a huge policeman chasing her. They ran past the alleyway I was in and Jenny cast a quick glance in my direction and then they were gone. My confused self wanted to find an explanation for that but my sensible self made me focus on my survival. However, I was not moving fast and I was not thinking fast so I was still working on staying alive when Jenny found me. Her face bore traces of tears and she was panting from exhaustion but she was an angel of salvation in my eyes.

“Sorry it took me so long to shake him off, Madam. We have to get you to a doctor now! Do you know any who would be ready to treat you, Madam?!?”

“No.”

“I do, then. Doctor Ayrton. My uncle Edward, well he's not really my uncle but that's not important right now, he is their neighbour's butler and he swears she's an amazing woman. Can we try her?”

The name seemed to ring a bell but not in a bad way and I trusted Jenny. Yes, I could have tried to treat myself and I would have probably succeeded but even a human doctor should do a better job than I would, given the circumstances.

“Do your best.”

And she did. She pushed me into a cab and she followed my instructions and we took advantage of the lesson the attack on Jenny taught me. My first aid kit now contained both morphine and a mix of antibiotics and Jenny took the hypodermic and I was soon full of both, not to mention wearing much better bandages. She made me believe I would survive this, even though I was all too aware of the limits of human medicine. And the morphine allowed me to focus on things other than the pain in my chest and there was a question I had to ask.

“How did you find me, Jenny? How did you know I would need help? And what did you do?”

She nearly burst into tears again.

“I didn't know. I had to talk to you, I had to ask...”

Her voice failed her for a moment and I thought she would break apart. She wiped her tears instead.

“I had to ask questions that will have to wait now. And I was simply lucky to hear your fight. But I couldn't save you like you saved me. So I ran back to a policeman I've passed a moment ago and grabbed his whistle and blew it and ran. I figured he'd chase me and the Scorpions would hear us running to you and they would hear other whistles and run away. And they did, Madam, didn't they?”

I had to admire her.

“Yes, they ran away. You did better than I would think possible, Jenny. You've saved my life. I'm oh so glad I have found a friend like you, Jenny. You are a wonder.”

This time she doubled over and broke into sobs. Human emotions were still a mystery to me and it took me a while to realize that her reaction was not due to my words alone or the attack on me.

“What is going on, Jenny? What has happened to you? Do you need help too?”

Talking this much was not easy for me, the morphine could block the pain but would not heal the wounds. And Jenny must have noticed this in my voice and somehow she managed to rein in her emotions and she talked to me again.

“I am no wonder, Madam. I will explain it later but now we have to take care of you. I'm sorry to be falling apart on you, Madam. I know you need my help now.”

She was obviously pushing her willpower to its limits and I am not so stupid I would risk pushing her over the edge again. I let her distract me with questions and tidbits of information about London and we made it into doctor Ayrton's house. I was barely conscious when we got there but I managed to stay alert long enough to know this doctor was unlikely to do more harm than good and then I've let the darkness wash over me, my last memory being one of Jenny looking like a guardian angel.


	3. I'm a lizardwoman from the dawn of time, doctor

I woke up to find Jenny by my bedside, slumped in a big chair right next to the bed and asleep. My own body was tired, aching and stiff but I seemed to be healing. My sword was within my reach. The shadows cast by a tree outside the window told me it was getting close to noon and the room we were in seemed to indicate we were guests of doctor Ayrton. My head turned towards Jenny.

“Jenny? Jenny?”

She woke up and her body jerked. She saw me awake and a mixture of joy and relief flooded her face and then it propelled her out of her chair and towards the door.

“You'reawakeMadam!I'llfetchdoctorAyrtonshesaidI'mtocallherwhenyouwakeup.”

And she was gone. The woman she came back with was indeed the one I remembered treating me the day before. Probably in her thirties, somewhat frail and tired, dressed in warm and comfortable clothing. Her face was as unreadable as those of other humans but her eyes were intelligent and curious. Jenny was two steps behind her, carrying a large bag.

“Welcome into our house, Madame Vastra. I am Matilda Chaplin Ayrton, although I suspect your maid has already told you that. How are you feeling? And would you mind me taking another look at your wounds?”

“Pleased to meet you, doctor Ayrton. Please accept my thanks for your help and let me assure you I will compensate any expenses we might have caused you. Do you want to check me right now?”

There was no sense in being secretive, she must have had a good look at me when she treated me. Her hands were nimble, strong and gentle and while this was not the care I would have received back home but it was good enough. I noticed her studying me again and I saw even more questions building up inside her brain but she simply did her job and I had to admit Jenny chose her well. After a while she was done and she seated herself in the same chair I saw Jenny in when I woke up.

“Now, I know you should be conserving your strength, and I should be conserving mine too, but would you mind answering a few questions?”

“I will try.”

“Thank you. You are not human, or are you? Your maid talked about a unique skin condition but I don't think she believed she fooled me. Or do you, girl?”

Jenny managed to sound both meek and defiant.

“It was worth a try, madam.”

“Which tells me something about your mistress.”

Doctor Ayrton turned back towards me and continued.

“But you are not human, are you?”

“No, I am not. I am a Silurian.”

She nodded but then paused to think for a moment.

“So where are you from? The inside of the Earth, like in Mr Verne's story? Venus? Somewhere else? The name suggests very ancient history.”

I had to smile a little.

“I am from England, as were my parents. The question you should be asking is indeed when do I come from, not where do I come from.”

“Oh. And the answer would be?”

“A long time ago, long before your civilization began, but not as long ago as the name suggests. I am alive thanks to, well, I guess you could call it machine-assisted hibernation. And I would like to ask you to keep my existence a secret.”

Her eyes tried to pierce me, not angrily but in an attempt to read me. Satisfied with what she saw she turned her gaze towards her own hands for a while but then she looked at me again.

“You seem to be an intelligent woman, Madame Vastra. Surely you must realize what your very existence means? We have to rewrite our history books!”

I sighed.

“The history will have to look after itself, doctor Ayrton. I would hate to become a lab rat and trust me, neither humans nor my fellow Silurians are ready to share this world with the other. There are exceptions, of course, but maybe me being – as far as I know – the only Silurian living in England today is a good thing. Right now I can only imagine two likely outcomes. Either you would destroy us or we would destroy you – just take a look at all the wars in your history. Individual humans can be amazing creatures but tribes and nations... And while my people have been much more peaceful, we are far from flawless. Keeping the fact of my existence a secret is therefore likely of great importance, wouldn't you agree? Maybe we should wait until you humans are ready?”

I saw her gaze flick towards my blade but come back in the blink of an eye.

“What if I publish what I know? What if I was to call the police?”

I tried to study her face but I hit the same problem again. She was human. I was improving, mostly thanks to Jenny, but I was not good enough to read her well enough. I had to make a guess based on the way she treated me so far.

“I would die and you would feel safer. Maybe you humans would be able to find and kill any possibly remaining Silurians and maybe some would wake up and see what you did and destroy you. But something tells me you will do no such thing, doctor Ayrton.”

She sighed and then broke into exhausting coughs and it took her a good minute to find enough energy to speak again. A suspicion began to grow in my mind but I remained silent.

“You're right. I don't think some sword-wielding lizardmen could destroy our civilization but if this is a war we can avoid... My calling is to save lives, not destroy them. And your maid's choice was a lucky one, I am the one doctor around here who will not have to keep your secrets for long. Well, I will do whatever I can to help you recover, Madame Vastra, and I will have my butler provide some sleeping arrangements for your maid if that's fine with you. Truth is I would be happier if you would let her stay in this room, considering your wounds. But now if you will excuse me...”

I took another good look at her.

“What is your own diagnosis, doctor Ayrton?”

“Excuse me?”

I knew I was not being polite but I saw a chance to repay her help and maybe earn some gratitude.

“I would like to know your own diagnosis, doctor Ayrton. Consider my question one based on an educated guess, please.”

Her eyes tried to evaluate me again and then came a guarded answer.

“Tuberculosis. Are you angry I chose to treat you despite this?”

I smiled.

“I am not. Jenny had no way of knowing beforehand and by the time we got here, you were my best hope. I was thinking, would you let a sword-wielding lizardwoman cure you? I think that would be the best way I could thank you for saving my life and keeping my secrets.”

Shock and disbelief fought for control over her face and it took her a while to respond.

"You can cure tuberculosis? How? We don't even know the cause! Who are you, Madame Vastra?"

"I'm a lizardwoman from the dawn of time, doctor Ayrton. And the answer is yes, I think I can cure it. In fact the cure is over there, in my bag, it is the same mixture Jenny injected me with yesterday to fight infection from my wounds. Truth is I better receive another dose soon and you can take a look. Maybe you should receive your first dose too, doctor Ayrton, but I have to warn you that in your case, the treatment will take some time, could be as long as six months. And it might not work, I'm still experimenting with it."

She managed to get her voice under control but it was still full of emotion.

"Are you a doctor or a druggist, Madame Vastra?"

"No, my main focus was analytical chemistry. But I have had good education and I did some biochemistry-related work with some of my colleagues at the university."

And I managed to gain access to some of the equipment that survived my hibernation, although I was not going to explain that. I did not have to. I saw a wide smile on her face when she heard about my career and I realized one thing. Most humans still thought women were not fit to be good scientists. It was a small miracle that Jenny knew about a female doctor so me being both a female and a scientist made me a kindred soul in doctor Ayrton's eyes. I became someone she truly welcomed under her roof, I became someone she was looking forward to spending some time with. After a while it even turned me from a strange monster into someone she was happy to introduce her five year old daughter to. I should have been happy. I have found new friends.

But there was something wrong with Jenny. She was inexplicably sad, strangely quiet, surprisingly passive. Yes, she was supposed to be my maid, which was a clever ruse and one that unfortunately dictated she behave in certain ways, but there was more to it. Doctor Ayrton, or Matilda, seemed quite willing to treat Jenny far better than I saw most humans treat their servants. But Jenny seemed to be lost in thought and depressed, only her willpower keeping her from breaking apart.

In the end I have pretended to be more exhausted than I was and Matilda left us to our own devices. I was free to try to help Jenny again.

“So, Jenny, could you tell me what has happened to you? We do have time to help you now.”

Her head dropped into the palms of her hands.

“This is something you can't help me with. Nobody can. I'll tell you the truth, Madam. I'm an unnatural, sinful and depraved woman and I've been hiding my true self from everybody, including you. I don't want to be like this but I'm so twisted I don't even feel bad for it. I just want to die.”

She was crying now and I had no idea what was going on. All I could do was interrupt her litany.

“I know you are nothing like that, Jenny. Why would you say such things?”

Her reply was angry and I saw that the thing she hated most was herself.

“Because they're true! You want to know how I found you? I hoped you could tell me what to do! I had to beg and repent so I would not get kicked out onto the street! You made me believe miracles do happen but they don't. Being in love but not being loved back is not that bad, Madam. But being betrayed by the one you love hurts so much you're dying inside and now my auntie knows and I thought she'd kill me."

Her pain reminded me of my own youth. I have never been betrayed by those I have loved but I was no stranger to crushing heartache. All I could do was alleviate her fears.

"Jenny, I know you are quite young and I do know girls sometimes do foolish things but surely your aunt loves you?"

"Not anymore. She'll let me stay under her roof for now but she despises me now. I'm a snake on her bosom. All because I love the wrong person."

Something in her voice made me understand her agony. It was as if somebody flipped a switch in my brain and I realized what was going on. My lips went dry.

"So who are you in love with?"

I already knew the answer. It filled my heart with sorrow and sympathy and I was feeling extremely stupid for not having realized this sooner. Jenny took a deep breath and I saw her prepare herself for my reaction.

"Mary Fraser. See? You don't understand me either!"

I know why it seemed that way. It was exactly the answer that flashed through my mind mere seconds earlier; the matchgirl I knew the most about and supposedly Jenny's best friend. Jenny must have confessed her feelings to her and Mary obviously told Jenny's aunt enough. And I knew, deep inside, that there was no miracle I could perform. But Jenny's fresh tears and the way she hid her face in shame again kicked me out of my stupor.

"Yes I do understand you."

Silence and sobs. Chances were I would never meet another Silurian again and this knowledge liberated me. It helped me make my own admission.

"It took me years to stop thinking about suicide when I realized I am attracted to females."

More tears but I saw her unbelieving eyes stare into mine.

"That's my darkest secret, Jenny. You're the first person ever to know this. Not even my parents knew for sure, though I suspect they recognized the signs. Yes, I do understand your feelings."

She descended onto me before I could say a word. Her hair and tears fell onto my face and her lips burned my cheek and a grenade went off in my chest and I was unable to prevent a moan escaping my lips and every one of my nerves screamed. The pain nearly took my breath away.

"Jenny!!!"

She jumped away as if I have suddenly turned into red-hot metal and this time I had to stop a litany of apologies. And then she was back in her chair and we talked.

“So, what can I do about this, Madam? I love Mary and I hate her and I want to be a normal girl. How do I live with something like this? Can you heal this?”

My own emotional pain seeped into my voice.

“How do we live? You accept that we are flawed and you dedicate your life to helping others. This is why I am a warrior as well as a scientist. Should a war be upon us, it is better if we die first rather than sacrifice our healthier kin. You hide your shame and strive to give your life meaning.”

She stared at me in disbelief.

“That's it? We live our lives alone and in shame? What about your science, Madam?”

“Jenny, there is a concept your people understand even though you haven't properly named it yet. Our name for this concept could be translated as eugenics. It means that flawed members of the population should have less offspring or none at all. Why increase the risk your children inherit this curse? We Silurians have accepted this for generations; it helped us improve as a species. I will admit this was a practice many questioned but the harsh truth is it worked. So most of my family would have never found a mate again if I gave in to those desires and proved how defective I am. I have learned to channel my energy into other pursuits and so should you.”

But Jenny seemed desperate.

“I could never do that! Love is love. I can't just turn it off. There must be other girls like me. I just have to find one who will love me back.”

I had to smile at the optimism of her youth.

“And I hope you do, Jenny. But while I have learned that human society is in some ways more tolerant than the Silurian one I don't think your choice would be widely accepted. I do wish you happiness. But I have learned to not expect it.”

She seemed surprised for a moment.

“Not even a little? If your warriors were like this...”

“Good heavens no! This flaw was much rarer than it seems to be amongst humans. We are an older race, after all. We have had more time to improve ourselves, Jenny. There was but one acquaintance I have suspected might share this curse and I have never dared to ask. Being a warrior and caring for your sisters in arms is not the same as... desiring them.”

Her hand sought out mine, trying to give me some strength and comfort. It was a moment of mutual understanding and an old saying popped into my head. A pain shared is a pain halved. It certainly seemed to work for us. And it gave me an idea.

“Jenny? There is one thing I have to do once I have recovered. I have to find a new house – the one in Cheapside is dangerous, now that the Scorpions know I live there. And I am something of a wealthy woman, much better off than my current lodgings seem to indicate.”

The way I came to be this rich – that is a slightly drunk and heavily masked Silurian using advanced technology to rob human banks so she could afford all the alcohol and other comforts she might desire – was a story better reserved for another time.

“You have let Matilda believe you are my maid. Would you like to become my maid for real? I would enjoy your company and I am sure you would perform the job to my satisfaction.”

Oh the irony. But I had no way of knowing what the universe had in store for me, now had I?


	4. So what clues are we looking for?

Paternoster Row. A huge fireplace. A huge and warm and comfortable bed. A huge library. Enough space for my laboratory, enough space for two such laboratories! No drunks downstairs. The place was nearly perfect. Yes, it cost me some money. But I could have afforded a house that would cost me a hundred pounds a year and still have no reason to worry. My new home was well within my means.

Jenny. She made the place perfect. She remade the place into my home, she made it comfortable and pleasant to live in. And she managed it all before I had to leave Matilda's care. I was in no hurry to do so, she made us feel welcome and the joy I saw on her daughter's and her husband's faces when her health began to improve was just as rewarding as her own gratitude. But it was time to move on.

My new home helped me recover. It took some time and it took some effort but I was ready to face the world again. And my new home helped Jenny recover as well. I know, my previous landlady was a drunkard and I have never hired a maid before. But Jenny seemed to be perfect for the job. More than perfect. She managed to work for me and remain my friend as well. She remade me into a lady and herself into a maid, hammering in the lesson that clothes matter even more than I thought, making me understand the human rules I would be expected to follow. And she convinced me we could play our roles without losing our true selves.

Jenny became my student again. Matilda's, or rather her husband's stay in Japan led to Jenny now possessing her first sword and we put it to good use. She had talent and I was happy to train her, with the added bonus that our training sessions helped me during my recovery. She lost some of her initial eagerness for scientific knowledge but not to the extent I thought she would, giving me hope she could become more than just a smart maid.

And Jenny's growth offered me an entirely new set of capabilities. Her insight into human society, her gift for reading people, her ability to ask for or buy information and a few more advantages not available to a Silurian vastly improved my chances of finding the mysterious telepath. He was strange, he had mysterious abilities and technologies and I hoped this oddness might help me find him. Anything too mysterious, anything too out of the ordinary became a reason to investigate. Jenny would talk to the people who would never talk to me and I would do the rest of my job. But it never paid off. Weeks went by and I had no solid information.

My efforts had some positive results, though. I managed to solve some minor mysteries, my help solved two petty crimes and I have gained some experience from it all. Then came my first real detective job and that had nothing to do with my mysterious telepath. William Ayrton's friend owns a company that makes all kinds of machinery and their gearboxes began to suffer from inexplicable failures. The boss himself might inspect and seal a gearbox and even some of those would fail. And the problems seemed to be spreading into some of their other products. They all feared sabotage and no amount of investigation managed to uncover anything. So I have offered my help.

It took me a while to solve the case and the cause of those failures was trivial. The men whose job was to keep the various machining areas supplied with bar stock had next to no understanding of different grades of steel. The company has changed some of its suppliers and while the new stock was perfectly up to specifications it looked different. So men would sometimes bring the wrong kind of steel where it did not belong simply because the machine there seemed low on stock and two different kinds of metal looked the same to them. In their eyes, their boss was stupidly picky about what should go where. Even something as basic as spark testing could have revealed the problem but they had nothing of the kind. So no real mystery there. But the company does far more than build gearboxes and one particular detail caught my attention.

I saw a pile of components that seemed out of place. A custom job, according to my guide. And there was supposed to be only one person in the whole city who might have ordered, besides other things, components needed to build a primitive bioreactor. That person was me, which meant that there was somebody else out there who understood these things. I had my first good lead. The problem was that the components had little to do with the equipment failures I have been investigating and the hour was quite late. So I have paid a visit to Ayrtons and talked William into helping me. After all, he was the owner's friend. He might be able to talk Mr Travis into letting me see the documents related to that suspect order the next day. And I wanted to take Jenny with me too, because my unique skin condition – she uses this lie a lot – often makes humans hesitant to talk to me. I have spent the evening going over all my information again, looking for cases that might be related to this, browsing newspapers and looking for things out of the ordinary. If somebody was building a bioreactor plus who knew what other technology, somebody might have noticed something odd. The results nearly made me panic. Thousands of pounds of sugar and starch mysteriously gone? A chemist's shop on fire? Three dozen people suffering from a strange rash? Was the man experimenting with biotechnology? And has he discovered one of our bioweapons without knowing what it was?!? A human playing with Silurian technology is a dangerous thing. The fuse was lit and the race was on. I had to find him and stop him before he kills himself and Goddess knows how many millions more.

We began early and hurriedly dragged William to the factory. And we instantly knew something was wrong. There were some policemen at the gates and we ended up in a waiting room. Nobody bothered us, we were guests and the gatekeeper knew both William Ayrton and me, he even told us the police were investigating a break-in and theft. But we had to wait about half an hour and I was getting more and more nervous, thinking this case had something to do with my own investigation and imagining the human policemen destroying or taking away any evidence I might need. At long last we were introduced to William's friend.

“Ladies, this is my friend, Mr Joshua Travis. Joshua, this is Madame Vastra and her assistant, Miss Flint.”

We made it through the formalities and William continued.

“So, I am sure you have read Walther's report but Madame Vastra noticed some very suspicious things during her investigation and she would like to ask you for about five minutes of your time. This has nothing to do with her recent findings but she believes it might be important. Or are we too late already?”

Mr Travis spent a few seconds trying to evaluate us and when he spoke, his voice was slightly vexed and a little angry. And his body told me he was impatient and in a hurry. But I heard the effort he was putting into being friendly to us, letting us know we were not the cause of his mood.

“If this is about the equipment she asked Mr Barton about yesterday then yes, you are too late. We have no idea how the thieves managed this or what the equipment actually was but it is all gone. Even the plans and orders and all the records are gone and those were in a safe. Well, you have already helped us once, Madame Vastra, and I find your prices quite reasonable so yes, I would like to hire you again. But there is one matter I have to deal with before I hire you. Have you worked for the people who have ordered the equipment? It was quite unique, I am sure it involves some new patents and I need to know where your loyalties are, Madame Vastra. I am sorry for being this blunt but the company is in a complicated position right now. And I am sure you would agree that your insight is somewhat suspicious.”

“I have never worked for those who have ordered it, Mr Travis. But the design philosophy was very out of place and it caught my attention. You see, there is a gentleman I am investigating already and it is quite possible that he is the person behind that order. I have to keep certain information secret for now, Mr Travis, but you have my word that I am not working for those involved in this, at least not to my knowledge.”

He nodded.

“That is enough for me, Madame. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to take my leave. The inspector who will want to talk to me should have arrived by now and I have to talk to some of my people before I talk to him. But I will also talk to Walther before I meet with that inspector, William, so consider this matter settled. Ladies?”

***

"So what clues are we looking for, Madame?"

I had no idea. How do you hunt for a telepath who has access to Silurian technology? Who could use force fields, holographic technology, gravity bubbles? I knew the technology and I knew telepathy too – many Silurians are telepaths, after all – but it put me into a very difficult position. And it gave me only one job I could task Jenny with.

"I will do the scientific stuff, Jenny. You look for anything unusual, and by that I mean very unusual. Something that should never be here, something impossible."

My own results were both reassuring and unnerving. Somebody definitely used some sort of gravity bubble to transport the stolen equipment and the traces indicated Silurian technology. The safe was a primitive thing and it was even easier to open than those I had to deal with during my time as a masked bank robber. In fact I saw signs of my own techniques having been used to open it. The whole place was strangely clean, as if somebody took care to remove any traces of fingerprints or strange DNA. I saw Jenny talking to various people, wandering around the factory, we even inspected some of the things she pointed out to me but nothing. It was as if a paranoid Silurian robbed the place. It was nearly noon when Jenny rushed to me again.

"I've found something else that's strange, Madame. It is footprints, Madame. Perfect footprints and they're strange."

There was no reason to expect obviously Silurian footprints. I wear the same boots humans do, after all. But Jenny was right. One of the footprints was more or less perfect and it took my breath away. The boot must have been brand new and the footprint reproduced every detail. Including two stamps. The smaller one an obvious symbol of a skin or hide. Which was kind of like marking a glass as made out of glass. No wonder it seemed strange to Jenny. And the sharply defined heel was made from two parts. I took a good look around and found a place where the heel might have scraped against metal. Yes. Microscopic traces of plastics. Polyurethane? Something else? And did it matter? Somebody was obviously experimenting with hybrid-construction shoes and the size fit the telepath I was after. The footprints seemed quite fresh, he must have spent more time around there than my first findings indicated, but I was sure they were his.

***

And his footprints were the last useful scrap of information we managed to find. It all seemed like a nearly-perfect crime. Yes, I took many samples and spent the whole afternoon analysing them. I took a good look at some of the locks, at some of the tiles from beneath the stolen equipment, at some suspicious pieces of grit and clay and dried mud. Somewhere along the river, but where? And was he actually living there? This line of thinking would not get me anywhere.

"Shouldn't I be getting you some refreshment, Madam? I know you're not supposed to eat here but perhaps if you would leave the laboratory for a while..."

Jenny's question interrupted my thoughts and helped me realize I was indeed hungry and thirsty. I sighed and smiled at Jenny.

"Yes, thank you. I will be in the library and I would like some tea with that dinner, Jenny."

I was soon enjoying my dessert and watching Jenny pouring me a cup of tea. It was still steaming and I was looking forward to its warmth and wondering how much of that warmth would escape before I could drink it and then my brain clicked. Waste heat. You could power a bioreactor using 19th century technology. But a gravity bubble or nanoassemblers require way more energy. The man must have found one of our bases and brought it at least partially online. Which meant waste heat. The river. He had to be dumping that waste heat into the river. And I should be able to find that waste heat.

The tea lost its attraction and I drank a glass of water instead. Why wait for it to cool down?

"Jenny? We need to hire one of them little steam-powered riverboats. And help me pack our weapons and equipment, please. We go hunting tonight."


	5. Have fun dying here, ape

I checked my readings again and the results were the same. I was thrilled.

"This is it, Jenny, under that bridge. Two pipes and a tunnel, created using Silurian technology. The tunnel must be the entrance."

Jenny peered into the darkness.

"I see no tunnel there, Madam."

"Of course not. It is underwater so it remains hidden, Jenny. But the entrance is only about fifteen yards deep."

Jenny's expression told me that was about fifteen yards more than she could take.

"You do know how to swim, Jenny, don't you?"

There was sadness and shame on her face. 

"I could swim to the shore if I really really had to, Madam. And I think maybe I would make it that far. But I am no diver."

Oh well. What was I to do?

"Okay, Jenny, I will go inside and you take this boat and wait for me over there. No protests, please. Should something happen to me, you know what to do. Find Henry Gordon Jago, make him help you deal with this. He doesn't know much but he knows more than nearly anyone else in this town."

I saw the impulse to embrace me and then her self-control winning.

"You are not going to die there, Madam, don't say that you could. The man is our friend, Madam. I understand he is experimenting with dangerous things but he is a good man, I know that."

I put on a smile.

"In that case you have nothing to worry about, Jenny. He is a good man and I will see to it that he doesn't make any mistake he might regret."

And soon I was underwater and swimming towards that entrance.

***

The base was heavily damaged. I saw too many cave-ins and I saw pieces of *human* machinery having been used for some of the repairs. And some of those pieces were definitely the stolen ones. This was the place I have been looking for.

And the place was both empty and alive. Empty, because I saw no Silurians where I should have seen many. And alive, because too much machinery was being used for something. This was a plan being put into action and my scales were itching. This was bad. The locks let me in but I saw that what remained of defence systems was all online. And who knew whether the programming remained intact or not. So I have found myself sneaking through our own base, searching for a human controlling it. I was actually crawling inside an air duct – the defence grid was thinner there – when I heard a door open and then came his voice.

"...so I was thinking maybe you would like to reconsider your plan. It is a good plan, as far as efficiency goes, but a little bit too genocidal. Now, some might say I'm the last man who should be speaking out against genocide but trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

But his voice was not as surprising as the angry, hoarse, female, Silurian voice.

"I don't care who you are, ape, or how you got here. I will deal with that later. You might be smarter than the other vermin up there but your time is over. You will die here tonight and all you apes will be dead in three months. The virus is nearly perfect."

Her words hit me like a fist and I knew, deep inside, that she was being serious. I had to get closer and learn more. And I had no idea how the man could sound as carefree and amused as he did.

"Not disputing that. Not disputing that at all. But maybe you would like to take a look at the console over there? In case there's something wrong with your equipment? Maybe someone might have reprogrammed something or maybe there's been an error you've overlooked? Maybe you'd let me show you not all the humans are the vermin you think them to be?"

"You've closed the... You must have hacked... The radiation and the gas would kill us both, you filthy ape! But the system has safeguards, you primitive, and yes, I have taken into account the inferior quality of those ape-made parts. Do you think I'm stupid?"

The telepath was still talking too fast and his voice was growing more pleading and sadder.

"I wouldn't be having this conversation here with you if you were stupid, Eldaachtl. But you're young and hurt and angry and alone and ambitious. You can't imagine a world where humans and Silurians live side by side. Please, stop this madness before it destroys you."

"I can imagine that world perfectly, ape. But I don't want to live in it! You apes are primitive, violent and destructive. I don't care for a few possible exceptions. Your race can't be trusted. We have to kill you before you destroy us."

I knew these types. A gleam in their eyes and talk of racial purity on their lips. And a fear that one day, evolution might let someone else take our place. The telepath was trying to stop her; his footprints must have been so fresh because he must have visited the factory investigating the theft. He must have always been a step ahead of me. But why would someone so intelligent walk into this trap? And this was about way more than Jenny owing him her life. This was about him defending the honor of all good Silurians. I had to help him.

"Funny how an uneducated ape might destroy your plans, eh? Or I guess it would be funny if it wasn't going to try to kill us in horrible ways. And what's this smell? The river? Can't you keep this place dry? I mean..."

He got interrupted by an alarm. Not a loud one, there's no point in huge and deafening alarms. But I heard Eldaachtl gasp in fear.

"It can't... I should have never trusted your primitive technology!"

It had to be the bar stock problem! She must have designed her repairs with human technology in mind, she sure tested some random samples and they all were up to specs. And she had no idea that some of the parts, maybe just one, might be manufactured out of a different material. One that would fail, the same way those gearboxes failed.

"Fine, I'll go back into a cryogenic chamber! Have fun dying here, ape. I'll be awake soon."

I heard an energy weapon discharge and Eldaachtl continued while I was getting closer and closer.

"You thought I would leave the console working? So you could reprogram the chambers? Make us wake up after a thousand years or never at all? I'm not that naive."

The man sounded happier again! And then I was close enough to see them. My mysterious telepath and a female Silurian, one too young to deal with a situation she must have been thrust into and stay sane.

"Well, now you get to experience that world you don't want to live in, Eldaachtl. Somebody here forgot your systems were already hacked, I guess."

"You... You wouldn't be this jolly if you didn't have a way out of this! And you're too smart for it to be a way I could use, ape! So I have to–"

His optimism was seductive. He really believed there was a future ahead of us that would see humans and Silurians as friends and allies. And the warning that those cryogenic chambers were hacked made me realize this left Eldaachtl with limited choices. She could enter her chamber and survive but she would wake up who knows when. Or she could kill the man so she would not have to stay on guard and then she could try to reprogram the chambers before she would have to enter one. So I knew what Eldaachtl was going to say. That she had to kill him. And I was in a position to intervene. One kick and then a push and I was joining them, landing on my feet, my sword ready. The appearance of another Silurian stunned Eldaachtl for a moment.

"You have forgotten our highest law, Eldaachtl. We are no barbarians. We do not wage wars, except in self-defence. And humans are an intelligent species now. Killing them would be no pest control. Would you disgrace our whole race and commit an unprecedented genocide?"

I saw her eyes roam my whole body.

"Human-made clothes and you're defending those animals! I can understand vermin fighting for their lives but you're just a traitor!"

And that was it. She wasn't even going to say she had to kill me. She was simply going to do it. But she was just a young scientist, probably still a student. A mad and violent one but not a trained fighter. I have been trained to fight since before she was born. I saw the signals and I was moving before her gun made it halfway towards me. Her panicked and almost involuntary shot missed me and she had no time for a second one.

"You didn't have to kill her, Vastra. I hoped you wouldn't."

"She's not dead yet."

Well, that was technically correct. And I stood there, shaken and shocked. Was I really just a traitor? Killing my own kin to save a human? Could I still save her?

"Not for a lack of trying, Vastra. Is this place making you more barbarous? I thought you'd help civilize this era. Now will you help me place her into that cryogenic chamber? Or do you really want her to die?"

No, I did not. And my help gave me an opportunity to study him closer, this time in good light. My observations shocked me more than the fight did. Those were mass-produced boots. Mass-produced human-made button and a zipper on his trousers. Some of his strangeness and some of his remarks suddenly took on a whole new meaning. The best explanation was oh so improbable but when you rule out the impossible...

I waited for the cryogenic chamber to close and activate before I popped the question.

"You're a time traveller, aren't you?"

He smiled and his hands seemed to have a life of their own as he talked to me.

"That's one of the things I love about you, Vastra. You're smart. You managed to find that factory even before I did. Don't deny it, I have no idea how you did it but there was your DNA there when I checked the place this morning. And you've matured a lot since our first meeting, haven't you? A friendly brain is more important than a similar skin now, eh? So why don't you make that last logical step?"

We were running out of time but I did as he asked, trying to find more in what I knew about him. Telepathic. Went looking for a Kraal android. Said *the* humans, not *us* humans.

"You're a human-looking alien?"

"Yes! Well I wouldn't say alien, that's a bit silly after all the time I've spent around here but yes, I'm an alien! The Doctor is a much better name, though. Would you like to try out my spaceship?"

I actually rolled my eyes.

"Mr Doctor! We either have to get out of here before the gas gets here or we have to use the spare cryogenic chambers! We don't have time for jokes now!"

"There's always time for a joke, Vastra. So, where would you like me to take you?"

I saw the now familiar blue box materialise in the room and he opened the door and smiled.

"Go ahead, just say it."

But I just stared for a moment. One, two, three...

"It is bigger on the inside! You can manipulate negative mass or is it something else?!?"

He stepped inside and turned back to me.

"Clever girl. And yes, I'm old enough to be calling even you a girl. But I thought we were talking about where you want to go. And it is just Doctor, Vastra."

A time-travelling spaceship! And a smiling and friendly alien willing to give me a ride! The possibilities! But I was a wet, tired woman. I have nearly killed another Silurian. We all owed the Doctor a huge debt, his actions saved us Silurians from becoming a genocidal race. His mention of our first meeting brought back my regrets over killing those clueless human workers. He thought I might help civilize this era. And what I wanted most was to go home and what surprised me was what my idea of a home was. I walked inside his ship.

"Paternoster Row 13, please. And there's a girl I would like to pick up first, if it is all the same to you, Doctor. I guess I have learned why you like this time and place. Not that I would mind learning more, though."

I am sure you can imagine how sly, in a friendly kind of way, his smile was.

"You will, Vastra, you will."


End file.
